UMaine dorm evacuated after bomb threat

ORONO, Maine — A bomb threat cleared Cumberland Hall at the University of Maine around 4 p.m. Sunday, and a bomb-detecting dog searched the building but found nothing, university spokesman Joe Carr said.

“Just before 6 o’clock we let everybody back into the building,” he said.

A campuswide emergency message was sent out around 4 p.m. telling students and staff of the bomb threat and to avoid the area around the dorm, which is home to about 300 students, Carr said by cell phone while en route to campus.

“Two [resident assistants] discovered some graffiti on a stairway wall suggesting a bomb was in the building and notified police, who investigated and determined the best course of action was to evacuate and bring in a bomb-sniffing dog,” he said.

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Robert Dana, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, was at the scene right after the initial call, and firefighters and rescue personnel from Orono Fire Department were called in to assist, Carr said.

Deputy Jim Roy from Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office and his bomb-detecting dog arrived at the university around 4:45 p.m. and searched the building for more than an hour, finding nothing.